Together
by gm13lumos
Summary: Coming back to earth was everything and nothing like what Bellamy Blake expected. Reunion fic; how I'd start season 5.


It was hot. That was his first thought when he lifted his head and torso out of the ship. He had grown so accustomed to the temperature controlled ark that the moment the air hit him, he began to sweat. His eyes skimmed the green that surrounded him, eyes searching for any signs of life as they adjusted to the bright mid-day sunlight.

"If anything was going to kill us, it would have got you by now," came Murphy's agitated voice from behind him. "Move your ass, Blake."

With a half laugh, Bellamy pulled himself the rest of the way out of the ship. He stood next to the opening and and watched as Murphy emerged a minute later, followed by Emori, Echo, Monty, and Harper. Knowing Raven would refuse his help, he waited patiently as the girl who had become his second-in-command slowly emerged from the ship. He waited until she looked at him impatiently before he reached out his hand for her, helping her to the ground. He'd learned over the last six years that when Raven Reyes needed help, she'd ask and not a moment sooner. He'd learned a lot about all of them, he thought as he looked around at the group. Everyone seemed to be a little stunned to be back on the ground, but he could also see the tenseness in all of their bodies. In the patch of grass where they had landed, they were completely exposed. Bellamy opened his mouth to direct the group to move when he heard a sound coming from the woods directly in front of them. There was a tight cluster of shrubs low to the ground that seemed to wall off the rest of the high trees from them. Bellamy held up his hand to still the ground, as Emori and Echo both reached for the knives they carried at their waist. There was silence for a minute before the shrubs rustled again. Before Bellamy could respond or anyone could move, a small girl emerged from the shrubs, a large gun in her hand, pointed directly at them.

"Who are you?" she demanded to know in English, cocking the gun in a way that screamed experience to Bellamy.

Bellamy raised his hands above his head and, after giving the others a look, they did the same.

"Who are you?" Bellamy tried to ask, but was cut off by the girl.

"I ask first," the girl said, shifting the gun so it was directly at Bellamy. "Who are you?"

"My name is Bellamy," he replied.

At his words, the girl lowered the gun.

"Who are-?" Bellamy started to say but again found himself cut off.

"Who are the rest of you?" the girl demanded to know.

Raven looked to Bellamy who gave her a slight nod. One by one, they each said their names. As they said their names, the girl lowered her gun until it rested at her side.

"You're late," she told them, matter of factly after everyone had introduced themselves.

"What did you say?" Bellamy asked, sharply.

"You're late," she repeated, rolling her eyes. "We've been waiting for you forever."

"We?" Bellamy questioned, trying to quell the feeling of hope rising in his chest. "Are you with Octavia? Abby? Marcus?"

"They're still in the ground," the girl said, swinging the gun onto her back. It was nearly the same size as her. "We tried to get them out but there was too much stuff on top."

"So who are you?" Raven asked, looking at Bellamy with concerned. "And who are you with?"

Before the girl could answer, shouting came from behind the girl. She winced at the sound and quickly called back in Trigedasleng.

"I'm in trouble," the girl offered, with a wry grin. "But hopefully you all can get me out of it."

"How could we-?" Bellamy started to ask but stopped when a figure emerged from the shrubs, a gun in hand and concerned etched all over her face.

Clarke. Bellamy felt the air rush out of his lungs and he staggered backward at the sight of her. She was alive, he thought, trying desperately to control his breathing. She was alive.

Clarke, on the other hand, hadn't looked up from the girl. "Madi, I told you to stay at the camp while I checked on the other camp, what were you thinking?"

Instead of responding, Madi pointed to the group standing there in various states of shock. Bellamy watched as emotions ran over Clarke's face before her eyes settled on him. He saw her eyes blur with tears and her hand fly over her mouth.

"Well, are you guys going to hug or something?" Madi asked, breaking the silence.

Monty is the first to register what Madi has says and, when he does, he walks toward Clarke. She meets him halfway and Monty wraps his arms around her. Monty is followed by Harper who simply wraps her arms around both of them. They release Clarke, who gives both Murphy and Emori a hug. She gives a tight smile to Echo before Raven wraps her arms around her. The two women stand there together for a moment before Raven pulls back. Raven looks back at Bellamy who is frozen in his spot. Raven gives Clarke a push towards him, as she turns to talk to Madi. Clarke walks toward him and he can't move a muscle. She stops directly in front of him, her eyes full of tears and she looks up at him. He reaches out with his right hand and brushes the hair away from the side of her face. At that, Clarke throws herself into his body, wrapping her arms around his neck. He wraps his arms around her body, squeezing her as tightly as he can.

"You're alive," he whispers. "You're alive."

Clarke lets out a sob before she pulls back. Wiping her eyes, she reaches up and wipes away the tears Bellamy didn't even realize were falling from his own eyes.

"I guess we can't say the nightblood is untested anymore," Clarke replied, a half smile on her face.

Instead of answering, Bellamy wraps his arms around her again, holding her to him.

"Clarke, I'm so-" he tries to say, but she pulls out of his arms.

"Don't you dare apologize, Bellamy Blake," she says angrily. "You did exactly what you were supposed to do."

"I left you," he says, quietly, watching as the anger leaves Clarke as quickly as it came.

"You did what you had to do," Clarke told him, reaching for his hand and giving it a squeeze. "There's nothing to forgive."

Bellamy simply stared down at Clarke instead of responding, her small hand enveloped in his large one.

"You are late though," Clarke added, giving him a smile. "You can apologize for that if you feel like you need to apologize for something."

The laugh left him before he even realized it was happening. "I'm sorry we were late, princess," he answered, smiling back at her.

Clarke squeezed Bellamy's hand again and, with a shake of her head at the old nickname, dropped it as she turned to look at the rest of the group.

"We should go to Madi and I's camp," Clarke told them, eyes scanning the area around them. "We're close by and it isn't necessarily safe to be out here like this."

"Lead the way," Murphy drawled, throwing his arm around Emori. "Be nice if you could feed us."

"Sorry, we tried to train him on the ark," Raven said, shooting Murphy a look. "No luck."

"Is it weird if I say I missed it?" Clarke replied, with a laugh as she began to lead the group into the woods.

"Please, don't encourage him," Monty told her, his hand in Harper's. "It will only make it worse."

"You're all weird," Madi announced, shooting a grin at Clarke. "And much less hero-looking than in the stories."

"The stories?" Bellamy asked, looking at Clarke who had turned a slight shade of pink.

"Clarke told me all about all of you," Madi replied, looking at Bellamy. "She'd get mad if I told the story and left you out."

"Okay, we're here!" Clarke announced a little too loudly as the rest of the group grinned.

Bellamy looked around at what looked like a camp site he'd seen in one of the books on the ark. There was a small cave off to the right and, much to his surprise, the rover parked off to the left.

"Madi, why don't you take Monty and Harper to grab food out of the cave?" Clarke ordered, before stopping short and staring at the pair.

"I'm sorry," she said, ruefully. "I guess I can't really tell you what to do."

"We'll go with Madi to get the food," Harper said, giving Clarke a smile.

Clarke nodded in gratitude, returning Harper's smile. Bellamy watched as Madi let the pair into the cave, chattering away as they went. Emori, Murphy, and Echo had sat down on the ground around what looked to be a firepit. Raven had walked over to the rover and was inspecting it.

"So this thing survived another apocalypse?" Raven said, hitting her fist on the side of the rover. "Who would have thought?"

"It was nice to find," Clarke answered, smiling at her friend. "You did such a good job on it, it even still ran."

"We build to last, Griffin," Raven replied, grinning back. "It's good to be back."

"It's good to have you back," Clarke said, this time her eyes trailing back to Bellamy. "I've missed you all."

"I'll tell you what I haven't missed," Murphy said, lounging on the ground. "This heat."

"The weather is still adjusting back to normal," Clarke told him. "We have nothing but extreme heat or extreme cold, nothing in between."

"The heat is better than the cold," Madi called out, as she approached, a large basket in her arms. "The cold sucks."

Bellamy watched as Madi set down the basket, followed by Monty and Harper who were carrying a larger basket between the two of them.

"Baskets?" Raven asked, examining them and ignoring the food inside.

"Madi made them," Clarke said, proudly, wrapping her arm around the girl who squirmed away from her.

"Well let's eat," Murphy said, reaching toward the basket Madi had set down.

Bellamy moved closer and saw that the basket Madi had brought contained fruit, with the larger basket that Monty and Harper had carried holding dried meat.

"You did all this?" Echo asked, speculatively. "By yourselves?"

Clarke raised her eyebrow before responding. "Madi came to me with a lot of knowledge from her tribe," she answered. "The rest we figured out as we went."

"How is she alive?" Echo questioned, her voice raising a little. "All the nightbloods were supposed to have been killed."

Clarke took a step toward Echo before Bellamy stepped between them.

"Why don't we eat?" Bellamy said, cautiously. "We can catch Clarke up on what we've been doing and she can fill us in on what she's been doing."

Bellamy's words hung between them before Echo took a step back. It wasn't until she sat down on the ground that Clarke backed down as well, sitting next to Madi, leaving room for Bellamy next to her. Bellamy sat down and, when he did, Clarke handed him a piece of fruit that was multi-colored. Bellamy stared at it for a moment, then looked up when he heard Clarke's quiet chuckle.

"I promise it's safe to eat," Clarke told him, giving him a smile. "It tastes a little weird but it's good."

Seeing that the others, including Madi, had already begun to eat, he smiled back at Clarke and took a bite of the fruit. The group ate in companionable silence for a few minutes before Bellamy spoke.

"You mentioned earlier that it wasn't safe for us to be out where we were, why is that?" he asked.

"A week ago a ship came down," Clarke replied, her tone suddenly clinical and cold. "Madi and I have been watching them since they arrived. So far all they've done is a bit of exploring and a few sleep outside of the ship."

"Have you had any contact with them?" Raven asked.

"No," Clarke replied. "We haven't been able to assess whether or not they're a threat."

"What about the bunker?" Bellamy asked. "Madi said you guys tried to get to it?"

"We did," Clarke confirmed. "But the building came down on top of it. With just Madi and I there's no way we could move all of it out of the way."

"Have you had any contact with them?" Bellamy questioned, hesitantly.

"We haven't," Clarke said, reaching over and placing her hand on top of his. "We tried the radio hundreds of times but never got a response. From them or from you."

"You radioed us?" Raven asked, surprised. "When?"

"Every day," Madi answered, when Clarke didn't immediately respond. "She'd go out onto the cliffs nearby and she'd talk to Bellamy."

Bellamy's head whipped toward Clarke and she pulled her hand away from his. "What did you say?" he asked her, his throat suddenly tight.

"It doesn't matter," Clarke said, hastily. "It didn't work. The radios don't work."

Clarke's response was followed by a heavy silence, with Bellamy staring at Clarke and Clarke staring at the ground.

"So you picked up a kid along the way?" Murphy asked, breaking the silence.

"I did," Clarke said, grasping at the opening Murphy had given her. "We found each other about a year after Praimfaya."

"How did you survive?" Emori asked, curiously.

"I'm a Nightblood like Clarke," Madi answered. "My brother was the only member of the family who was chosen to go beneath the earth. I used what I had learned from my tribe to survive until Clarke found me. Then we survived together."

"Why weren't you in Polis when all the Nightbloods were called for?" Echo asked, sitting up straighter when Clarke gave her a glare.

"My family kept me at home," Madi said with a shrug. "I didn't know enough to understand why. I guess I won't ever know."

"Enough," Clarke cut in, wrapping an arm around Madi and pulling her to her side.

Madi leaned her head against Clarke's shoulder and Bellamy felt a tug of pain thinking of Octavia. Clarke seemed to read his thoughts because her hand found his.

"So how was space?" Madi asked, looking around the group. "Clarke says it's different from here."

"Very," Emori replied, with a half grin.

"Tell me," Madi demanded, sliding away from Clarke and moving towards the center of the circle.

As Murphy began to tell Madi a story about space, Bellamy turned to Clarke.

"She's great," he said in a low voice.

"Octavia and the others are fine," Clarke replied, giving him a smile. "We just have to figure out how to get them out."

"What about this other ship?" Bellamy asked. "Do you think they might help us?"

"I don't know," Clarke told him, biting her lip. "I can't do anything that puts Madi at risk. I had only been gone for a few minutes when she disappeared and found all of you. I can't risk her."

"I understand," Bellamy said, soothingly. "But we're here now, we can think of a plan, and we'll make sure all our people are safe."

"Our plans tend to suck," Clarke answered, with a half laugh. "And rarely work out as planned."

Bellamy laughed in response, tightening his grip on Clarke's hand when she smiled back at him.

"We'll figure it out," he said, turning his hand so his fingers intertwined with Clarke's. "Together."

"Together," Clarke affirmed, looking down at their hands then up at Bellamy. "Together."


End file.
